Changing a Fat Boy

Add a snack between lunch and dinner, and that protein shake in the evening, and it should be alot easier to hit your goal. I’d hold off on the HOT-ROX for a little while until you’ve got your diet and exercise routine down pat, then add them in if your progress starts to stall.

morning Stats
Temp 95.4
weight 354.4

First set of measurements:

  • Around the largest part of your belly/love-handle area 56.5
  • Upper leg (thigh) 29
  • Lower leg (calf) 21.5
  • Ankle 11.5
  • Chest: Across nipple line 57
  • Between belly button and nipple line (upper abs area) 53
  • Upper arm 16.5
  • Neck 18

Good job, were you very hungry, having cravings? As for the difficulty eating enough calories, just try and shoot for 2000, you don’t have to go up to 2400-2600. Shouldn’t be too hard if you add in another small meal. Also throw in a snack of a serving of almonds in there somewhere.

Very good job, now consistency is key; with this diet and new found motivation you will make amazing progress, though it will not happen overnight, know that it will happen. Consistency is key.

It is amazing how much more you can eat when you eat good foods.

1 Large coke - 600kcal
1 Double 1/4lber - 720kcal
1 Large Fry - 610

Total 1930, that is one meal, you at all day and weren’t hungry for less that that.

Compare that to

1 Diet coke - 0
1 Chicken breast with EVOO - 250
1 Large plate of veggies - 50

Total - 300.

I was pretty much full all day and no cravings. I know I can hit 2000 no problem. i just need to remember to space the meals a little better, I had dinner a little later then it should have been.

It looks like you’re off to a great start. A good way to get extra calories in is to cook with olive oil. Some people on here even seem to like putting it into their protein shakes.

Keep up the effort! Remember, the first two weeks are easy because you’re full of motivation. The next two weeks are the hardest, because that’s when you start doubting the motivation, and will start making the justifications to go back to how things were. When that happens, come here, and we’ll help keep you on the right track!

Keep it up Drumhogg, one tip:
don’t weigh yourself every day- it can lead you astray. Body weight is variable; your weight may go up (temporarily) while you fat goes down. I generally think its best to weigh yourself once per week, same day & time.

Just to explain; bodyweight consists of:

  1. Bones (fairly constant, but does vary slowly)
  2. Fat
  3. Muscle / conective tissue (and nerves, organs etc.)( may increase especially if you do some liftin’)
  4. Water (including blood and carbohydrate stores in the muscles and liver)This varies the most.
  5. Crap (in your intestines)Obviously varies when you eat or dump!
  6. Skin (biggest organ of the body), hair, nails, etc.

#4 causes most day to day variation.
#2 is what you want rid of
#3 is what you want more of.

If you lose 3lb of fat, gain 4lb muscle have a piss and a crap (- 1lb) your weight won’t have changed BUT you are making progress and WINNING!

You sound committed, well done!

That is fine, shoot for 2000. Be happy that you aren’t hungry at 2000 kcals; dieting is alot harder when you are ravenous. If you were having like 10 cokes a day, that was 1500kcals right there, to put things in perspective.

Set up your plan for the day and follow it, you can’t fail that way.

First off, your diet looked good, and if 2000 kcal is enough for you, that’s good enough.

However… I recommend going a little higher to 2500 kcal for a couple of reasons. Once fat loss slows (down the road it will) you’ll need to change something. One of the simplest things to do is to eat less. At THAT point, you drop down to 2000kcal. The second is that food helps with recovery, and building muscle. I don’t think you’re going to see a difference in fat-shed/week between 2500 and 2000kcal, because your mainly losing weight because you’re eating healthy, so why not eat more when you can?

That said, if you can only get in 2000 kcal, that’s good enough. The main bit is to eat healthier. Which you’re doing. Right on.

Oh, and yeah, HOT-ROX will help you, but don’t go there yet. Use HOT-ROX when you’ve both
a) got your diet and exercise regimen under control and steady for several months and
b) your fat loss has slowed considerably.

As long as you can make great progress without it, don’t worry about supplements.

Fish oil though…

thanks for all the help.

Today is going well so far.
I already have 3 meals in and I’m looking at 1116 kcals so far. I have 3 meals left so I’m right on target.

still no raging hunger or craves although my stomach knows when the next meal is supposed to be.

I’m going to start looking for a full body lifting program now that I feel confident in the nutrition direction. I’m thinking thats the next step.

There is already lots of sound advice here, so I don’t have much to contribute.

Just wanted to wish you luck. My younger bro was over 400 lbs just a little over a year ago. He is now down in the 250’s and plans on losing around 50 more.

He did it with simple work like daily walks, weight training, kickboxing, kettlebells, and eventually sprints.

All along with a diet high in lean protein, green vegetables, healthy fat and low in simple carbs.

The plan is pretty simply, executing day in and day out is the hard part, but you seem to have it covered so far.

Man I wouldnt go too hardcore that’s all im saying try some simple things and see some easy weight loss then try the more hardcore stuff. The problem with being fat is you’re a spaz and cant control yerself… u can be just as spazzy the opposite direction and take on a totally unrealistic diet which u’ll quit in a week. Cutting out the simple carbs will let yer brain control yer diet not yer cravings. It’s not the complete solution but its a good start.

[quote]samfarkus wrote:
Man I wouldnt go too hardcore that’s all im saying try some simple things and see some easy weight loss then try the more hardcore stuff. The problem with being fat is you’re a spaz and cant control yerself… u can be just as spazzy the opposite direction and take on a totally unrealistic diet which u’ll quit in a week. Cutting out the simple carbs will let yer brain control yer diet not yer cravings. It’s not the complete solution but its a good start.

[/quote]

thanks for the advice … But I’m an all or nothing kind of guy, not to mention I’m just fed up with myself and enough is enough.

No Cravings at all.

Todays food:

Breakfast CALORIES CARBS FAT PROTEIN

Milk, 1%, 1 cup 102 12 2 8
Protein Powder, 1 serving 110 2 1 24
Banana, fresh, 1 medium (7" to 7-7/8" long) 109 28 1 1

2nd Breakfast

Jimmy dean Turkey Sausage, 2 serving 240 2 14 26
Egg, fresh, 3 large 224 2 15 19
Aunt Millie’s Multi-Grain Bread, 2 Slice 120 24 1 4

Lunch

Cottage Cheese, 1% Milkfat, 8 oz 163 6 2 28
Romaine Lettuce (salad), 1 cup, shredded 8 1 0 1
Cucumber (peeled), 0.5 cup, pared, chopped 8 1 0 0
Red Ripe Tomatoes, 0.5 cup cherry tomatoes 16 3 0 1
Bean sprouts, 0.5 cup 17 3 0 2

Snack

Chicken Breast, no skin, 14 ounces 436 0 5 92
Asparagus, fresh, 6 spear, large (7-1/4" to 8-1/2") 28 5 0 3
Fish oil softgel, 2 serving 30 0 2 0

Dinner

Chicken Breast, no skin, 6.7 ounces 209 0 2 44
Asparagus, fresh, 5 spear, medium (5-1/4" to 7" long) 18 4 0 2

Snack

Almonds, dry roasted, 2 oz (22 whole kernels) 338 11 30 13
Protein Powder, 1 serving 110 2 1 24

Daily Totals: 2,285 107 77 290

my only concerns for the day are I didn’t get all of my fish oil caps in and I’m not to sure about the toast I had this morning (even though it was whole gain)

tonight I got in a hour and a half walk.

whats worked for me and I am only like 3 months in and its comiing along great

stronglifts 5X5 started really really light to get my form down
it is so simple its crazy and it works for straight noobies.

also diet do not over think things remember
if it runs,swims,flys or if its a green veggie eat it
I suggest cottage cheese and milk to get the protein you need

drinks
water,tea,green tea is yummm and the best IMO
I do drink diet soda and still seeing results from time to time but not often though

oatmeal with berries in the morning with a few eggs and some thing else like bacon or something i like steak
you will see great progress if you stick to it and

again just my opinion you are on the right track but I think and dont take this wrong,but in your stage you are thinking too much.
keep it simple add as you go.

[quote]Drumhogg wrote:

thanks for the advice … But I’m an all or nothing kind of guy, not to mention I’m just fed up with myself and enough is enough.
[/quote]

This is what I wanted to hear. Otep and Zagman are both giving bulls-eye advice. I was initially skeptical because it is usually hard for people to cold turkey things, especially “feel good” stuff in their diet. Usually small daily adjustments work better for them. But for you…you my friend are going to go far, as long as you keep yourself honest. There’s no shortcut to transformation. Not even steroids. It’s always long, it’s often painful, and it’s usually hard. But it is SIMPLE. The problem with all or nothing types is that when they drop off the bandwagon, they don’t just take a tumble, they drop off the edge of the world. This is a game of years, not weeks or even months. Know that and accept it. Stay fat and die. Or get lean and live. There is no compromise.

Listen to me–the first week is easy, the second often too. But habits that you have ingrained over the years are going to try and bite you in the ass. It generally takes 21 days to break old habits. Make it one month with zero screw-ups on diet, and you are almost home free to your new habits. You’ll probably need more time after so long getting bad habits, but the hardest part will be over.

Also, you need to change the way that you think about food. Food can make you strong…or it can be weakness personified. Once you’ve woken up, you can’t go back to sleep–you can willfully go back to eating crap, but you’ll still know it’s making you fat and weak. Food is fuel for a transformation, nothing more. This is how all great athletes, bodybuilders, and elite competitors think. Food is fuel, and it can turn you into a beast or a blob.

I want you to repeat to yourself a couple phrases every day when you wake up before you get out of bed and at night before you go to bed. But one of them is going to be “Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire”. Kill the old you, set yourself on fire. Here’s the other phrase “Die Fatty Die”. Yes I’m serious. The weight that’s hanging on you is not you any more. It is a parasite. It is trying to suffocate you. Day by day, meal by meal, it wants to kill you slowly. It wants to torture you by making you sick, slow, and diabetic. It wants you to be hooked on prescription meds to get through the day. Repeating phrases to yourself daily helps when hard times hit. And they hit everyone, vets included. Keep your goal in mind. The last thing I want you to do, is to find a picture that you want to look like–Arnold, Zane, Carl Lewis, Abercrombie model, I don’t care. Find a picture that shows your ultimate goal. I want you to post that thing by the fridge door. Do it as soon as you read this. Yes, now.

nichaaron, I think you’ve got some good ideas, but I’d have to say if Drumhogg can keep it up for the long haul he should stick to what he’s doing. Time will tell.

Drumhogg–life will try to get in the way. You need a plan. You need contingency plans for those days when the kids are bad, or you have to travel or run around all day with errands. Busy days are the days that get you. Plan ahead.

Good work getting on the diet, are you sure your cal intake isn’t a bit low?

I’m consuming about the same amount at 250lbs… I’m also a bit low as I go to the gym 4-6x a week… but being this low has actually been the first time i’ve seen real loss…

however, for someone with 90lbs on me, and a 1.2 on the activity scale I’m seeing you at like 3000 cals not 2200…

Either way… nice work… just be careful.

[quote]Aragorn wrote:
nichaaron, I think you’ve got some good ideas, but I’d have to say if Drumhogg can keep it up for the long haul he should stick to what he’s doing. Time will tell.

Drumhogg–life will try to get in the way. You need a plan. You need contingency plans for those days when the kids are bad, or you have to travel or run around all day with errands. Busy days are the days that get you. Plan ahead.[/quote]

I do agree with this 100%

Drumhogg; excellent work! If you keep up this attitude, you’ll definitely accomplish your goals. I always tried the slow modification of my lifestyle, and it never worked. The day I really had my “pheonix moment” I jumped right into the Anabolic Diet, and starting lifting (well, technically, the morning after I had my moment). It’s been 3 weeks, and I haven’t looked back.

Aragorn; do you sell motivational videos? If not, you should think about it. Really, man, you cut to the chase and say what people need to hear.

darwin–nope, I don’t. I’ve just been down the road. Mostly from the opposite angle (skinny fat, gangly, awkward, nerd). But the same psych factors hold true, just different application (For instance I repeated “food is fuel” over and over to myself to make me eat more. I also repeated “I love leg day” when learning to squat…guess what my favorite day of the week is now?). Thanks though!

wow… I read every post so far on here & it’s really helped ME. Thanks alot to the people with nutritional knowledge, it really helps.

I have a question though… I asked almost the same thing as he has, but only 2 or 3 people have even replied to my thread. What have I done wrong?